Alcoholics Anonymous of Gwinnett County

Alcoholics Anonymous of Gwinnett County
District 16C & 16D / AA Links

District 16C & 16D /AA Links

Archives & Newsletter

Archives Article
(updated 5/17/2010)

The First AA Meeting in Atlanta by: Gary N.

The first AA meeting in Atlanta was held on November 29, 1940, which is around seven months earlier than the June 12, 1941 date that we in Atlanta celebrate as our anniversary. This information has been obtained from the AA Archives in New York, and results from their research.

However, after examining this new information with Avery of our Central Office, there seems to be no reason to change the anniversary date of June 12, 1941 as currently celebrated. Though there were meetings in AA earlier than we thought, the people that conducted the meetings didn’t stay in Atlanta. Consequently, there isn’t an unbroken chain, as there is from our current anniversary date.

I’m going to include the contents of an email I received from New York from an archives assistant there, which explains the history of AA in Atlanta we didn’t previously know.

Dear Gary,

Greetings from GSO Archives! It is a pleasure to be in contact with you!

Our earliest correspondence coming out of Atlanta, GA is dated in late 1940. .

Several relative excerpts from letters are:

The earliest letter we have in our records is to Mr. Marion H. from the GSO dated 11/26/40:

We first heard of your interest in Alcoholics Anonymous through a letter from our mutual friend, Irwin M., who we call our traveling correspondent. He keeps rather closely in touch with us while moving about the country on business,,,

From Mr. Marion H. to the GSO, dated 11/30/40:

Many thanks for your encouraging letter and copy of the Bulletin, which I have turned over to Mr. C.K.P. We had a meeting last night, but Sam M. did not attend.

From Mr. Marion H. to the GSO, dated 1/31/41:

Thanks for your letter… to the Atlanta Group. Unfortunately, this writer is the only one of the active group now in Atlanta. C.K.P. left the day after Christmas for the west coast…

There are several letters from this time that have referrals. The GSO sent Marion H. names and addresses of people interested in AA in the Atlanta area.

A letter from Frances D. (Mrs. Sam S.D.) to the GSO, dated 4/2/41 discloses:

Enclosed are two newspaper articles about my husband. The first dated December 3, 1940, brought little or no response for employment. But in the meantime, he took a commission job, selling Good Year tires. He made no money, he became depressed, and just as this radio work came to be a reality, he began to drink. Now, he’s going to lose this opportunity, just as he has many others in the past 8 years, since he left the Ministry. I’ve combed Atlanta and suburbs for the name or names of some Alcoholics Anonymous. The one name [Marion H.] I have secured is a traveling man and is away from town indefinitely. Will you please rush any information you can give me as to whom to get in touch with… I am reading Alcoholics Anonymous now. My husband has read excerpts from it, and likes the idea.

A response from the GSO dated 4/3/41 states:

We are sorry indeed to advise you that at the moment, there are no AA members in Atlanta to whom we could refer you and Mr. D for information and assistance. As you know, [Marion] is not at home at the present writing; however things are spreading so rapidly since the publishing of the article in the Post that we hope to get things really started in Atlanta soon.

A letter to the GSO dated 7/15/41 reveals:

At the direction of the Atlanta Group, we are taking this means of thanking you for the pamphlets you so generously sent us to aid in promoting our group. If you could attend one of our meetings, see the miracles taking place and hear the testimonies given, you would be happy in seeing the progress we are making… Some of us in the group have been tremendously interested in AA for a long time and exceedingly anxious to start a group here. Efforts were made a number of times but without permanent results. Stephen M., of the Washington group moved to Atlanta, and through his splendid efforts we actually began operations… On June 12, seven of us met with Mr. and Mrs. [Stephen] M. in their home. Last Tuesday evening, July 8, forty people were at the meeting in parlors A and B in the Robert Fulton Hotel, our regular meeting place…

Very sincerely yours,

Sam S. D.

Ernest H.S.

J.H.M.

Another letter from Sam D. to the GSO dated 10/27/41 discloses:

For 16 years, I was a successful minister in the Presbyterian Church. One pastorate was the “Old First” Church, Brooklyn, where John Barleycorn whipped me. I have started over again, thanks to AA’s solution to my problem…. We enjoyed Irwin M.’s visit and received a number of helpful suggestions from him.

In regards to Sam D., Bill W.’s “AA Comes of Age” mentions him briefly, stating:

Shortly after the beginning of AA in Atlanta, that shaky group was sparked by the appearance of Sam, a high powered Yankee preacher…

The book does not claim that Sam D. started AA in Atlanta. According to the correspondence that I have shared with you, this seems to be the most accurate. There were whispers of AA in Atlanta before Sam D.

Steve M. was an early AA member in Atlanta. I have mentioned him in the above correspondence excerpts as Stephen M.

I hope that this information has been helpful. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact us at Archives@aa.org.

Take care,

Svetlana G.

Archives Assistant

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Is The Mystery Solved? by: Gary N.

Written in the We Share Our Georgia Experience, published in 1995, is the following account of how AA arrived in Atlanta (page 145):

“Army officer Steve M., who had recently attained sobriety in Washington, D.C. came to Atlanta in June 1941 . . . A defrocked minister, Sam D., answered the ad and sat in the post office . . .the two men met . . . they held the first meeting of AA in Georgia at Steve’s apartment . . .” (bold added by me).

As well as Georgia’s We Share, Washington D.C.’s archives document the same Steve M. as one of “The Boys of ‘39” that began the first A.A. group there. Steve M.’s move to Atlanta ties Atlanta’s A.A roots to Bill W. Except a bit of a mystery has evolved. The Jack Alexander article, published March 1, 1941, three months previous to Steve M.’s arrival in Atlanta, already has A.A. in Atlanta. How could this be?

In addition, Bill W. seems to have thought that Atlanta A.A. at least came from Cleveland, rather than New York via Washington D.C. If so, Cleveland, A.A. in Atlanta would be first tied to Dr. Bob, and the A.A. anniversary in Atlanta would be earlier than currently celebrated.

On page 25 of Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age one can read about Irwin M. from Cleveland:

“[Irwin M was a salesman who] used to range a territory bounded by Atlanta and Jacksonville on one side and Indianapolis, Birmingham, and New Orleans on the other.” Irwin is described as an A.A. “missionary.” “Irwin had long since broken all the rules of caution and discreet approach to newcomers, so it was with reluctance that we gave him the list [of prospects in the south]. Irwin ran them down, every single one . . . Day and night; besides, he wrote letters to his prospects and got them to writing each other.”

“Shortly after the beginning of A.A. in Atlanta, that skaky group was sparked by the appearance of Sam, a high-powered Yankee preacher, temporarily minus frock and salary (bold added for emphasis by me).”

Sam provides the match of information in Alcoholics Comes of Age, written by Bill Wilson in 1957, with Georgia Share written in 1995, and the match is through a “defrocked minister” Sam D.

According to Bill Wilson, A.A. was already in existence in Atlanta prior to Sam joining A.A! Thus, Sam couldn’t possibly have been at the first meeting of A.A. in Atlanta! Bill W. contradicts Georgia’s We Share! Bill W. gives Irwin M. the credit of founding the first meeting in Atlanta, and if accurate, then Atlanta’s original A.A. ancestry comes from Cleveland, and then Akron, and then Dr. Bob.

A call has been placed to New York Archives to find a list of southern “topers” and hope it still exists. This southern list, as described by Bill W., would be found at “the New York Headquarters [where] we had on file a long list of topers in many a Southern city . . .” The southern list was the list of names given to Irwin M. by Bill W., with some reluctance. This list, however, may provide to us a long lost valuable record of early A.A. history in the south. While Bill W was reluctant to provide Irwin with that list, that list may provide a long lost record of A.A. in the south that might otherwise be lost.

Is this Atlanta A.A. origin mystery solved? I’d say not for sure. But stay tuned, more shall be revealed.

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Article from the Georgia Message

(Updated 9/2/2010)

Carrying This Message

By Chair and
Co-Chair

Area 16 Treatment Facilities

Committee

"I am responsible when anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help. I want the hand of A.A. always to be there, and for that I am responsible."

The Treatment Facilities Committee would like to thank all the Treatment Representatives who are carrying the A.A. message into these Facilities throughout Area 16. On June 19, 2010, the Treatment Committee held a workshop in Savannah, Ga, and it was very successful, and informative. A special thanks goes out to District 5 for being such a wonderful host. We heard from Facilities Administrators, staff workers, and Alcoholics who had come through the Treatment program and were introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous through Bridge the Gap program, which focuses on how any Alcoholic can stay sober one day at a time. "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program"(Chapter 5, How It Works, page 58) Also discussed at the workshop was our other new service responsibility to Area 16, and that is "Special Needs / Accessiblities". "While there are no special A.A. members who have special needs"; the goal is to include all alcoholics who want to stay sober, therefore every T.F. Rep. will have to educate their Districts, Zones and Groups on what Special Needs really is, and how important it is to everyone. Area 16 is very fortunate to have only one (1) Special Needs Representative with much needed knowledge and experience, and we are grateful. At our September 18, 2010 Assembly in Macon, Ga., the 11a.m. Treatment Facilities Committee Workshop will be devoted exclusively toward treatment. The 9:30 p.m. Committee Workshop will be about "Special Needs / Accessiblities" only. We hope everyone will be there and encourage all recovering alcoholics to get involved. We all have our experience, strength and hope to share, so please contact your Area 16 Treatment Facilities Committee Chairs for information for information.

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